Bai mei
Yuan? Wang Mian
This body is in a forest of ice and snow, different from peaches and plums.
Suddenly, the fragrance of the night was scattered like a dry spring in Wan Li.
Make an appreciative comment
"This body is in the forest of snow and ice", plum blossom grows in the snow and ice, and in terms of color, it is white with snow and ice; As far as personality is concerned, it is not afraid of the cold and has a strong will. Based on Mei's own situation, the author shows that he has both pure character and strong character of not being afraid of power and sticking to himself. "Different peaches and plums are mixed with fragrant dust." Plum blossoms do not compete with peaches and plums, nor do they disdain to compete with everything for spring. They are lonely, noble and refined.
"Suddenly fragrant all night, scattered like withered Kun Wan Li spring". Suddenly, plum blossoms are in full bloom, and the fragrance is overflowing, spreading all over the world, bringing people the news of spring. However, before that, they were all "lonely and unloved" and were not appreciated. This is a self-portrait of Wang Mian. He disdains the pursuit of fame and wealth and intrigue with others. But as unknown as plum blossoms, infecting others with their own spiritual qualities and benefiting the world with their own selfless dedication. Maybe this Bai Mei is just a painting written by a poet. The author endows Mo Mei with both fragrance and jade bone ice muscle, and organically combines painting style, poetic style and personality, literally praising Mei Hua, but actually appreciating his own virtue of establishing a person.
Extended reading: Wang Mian's family history
Wang Mian's ancestral home is Jing Wang in Kansai (west of Hanguguan). His tenth ancestor was Wang, who served as an official of the Qingyuan Army in the Song Dynasty. Wang has two sons. One is Wang Qi, who used to be an observer in Langzhou. One is Wang Lin, who is a controller. Later, Wang Lin moved to Zhuji, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and was the ancestor of Zhuji.
Wang Mian's distant ancestor was undoubtedly a bureaucratic family, but his father who came to Wang Mian became a poor farmer. "Chen Biography" contains: "The father is a farmer and the crown is a family." Wang Mian said in Zhu Zhai's Poems: "Mr. Jiu Li's sideburns are poorer this year than last year. I'm not worried about my clothes. The broken house caused Laura to rain. A few acres of bean sprouts die in summer, and a reed grows in autumn. Knowing each other, there is nothing to say, laughing that Bai Niao is not dead. " (Nine Miles in the Mountain) "I study hard all day and night, and my neighbors despise me for being pedantic and stupid. There is no millet in the broken coffin, and my wife is annoyed. I use Yuzhu as a meal. " ("Crossing the Mountain") "The ancient guests in the south of the Yangtze River have no land, and half a foot breaks the inkstone and loses money. Good mountains and good waters are hard to meet, and the house is thin and desolate. " ("feeling")
Judging from these poems, he personally took part in all kinds of labor. Reading and painting is only part of his spare time activities, for the sake of life. He makes a living by selling paintings and rice, and also pays rent and taxes. He writes poems and paintings, which is naturally different from ordinary literati. Because "there is no land, no wind and no grass", his life is getting worse every year. There is no cotton wool for winter, and the straw house is unable to be repaired. Crops can't resist drought, and there is no food at home. His wife was hungry and had to pick wild vegetables to satisfy her hunger. In this case, I had to take part in manual labor directly, walk barefoot, farm bamboo, tea, mulberry, hemp and miscellaneous grains to maintain my life. The description of this poor life can be seen everywhere in the relevant descriptions. For example, in Zhu Zhai's poems, there is a description of "poor sleeves and empty pockets". "Coral in the Iron Net" records that "this year is different from last year, with white hair and beard, no foot disease, no hurry, no flattery, no career, no hunger all day long". Despite this tragic experience, he would rather farm and sell paintings for a living than run around begging, which fully shows the indomitable character of an artist.